No charges are expected to be laid against a Texas Ranger who reportedly shot and killed a popular New Brunswick singer-songwriter, Thomas Reid (pictured here), in his wheelchair in Fort Stockton, Texas, on Friday. (HO)

No charges are expected to be laid against a Texas Ranger who reportedly shot and killed a popular New Brunswick singer-songwriter in his wheelchair in Fort Stockton, Texas, on Friday.

According to local reports, Thomas Reid, 38, a native of Fredericton, N.B., was arrested in Fort Stockton for a case of apparent road rage. When he was released from jail Friday, he was put up in an area hotel to await family to pick him up.

Police say they were called back to the hotel three hours later for a disturbance, and Reid ended up getting in a scuffle with two Texas Ranger deputies in the hotel parking lot. During the fight, Reid allegedly managed to get a hold of one of the deputies' guns and fired a shot into a nearby wall. Police say when he turned the gun on them, he was shot and killed by the other deputy.

Pecos County Sheriff Cliff Harris said an independent investigation into the incident will be carried out by the Texas Rangers, who are currently taking witness reports.

According to Reid's biography by his record label, Reider Records, after graduating from Algonquin College in Ottawa, he moved to Texas. A surfing accident in 1999 left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Reid wrote a real-time account of his drug problem called Keel Over & Die in 2005, after battling with painkillers when he started gaining some feeling back in his legs. In 2007, Reid graduated with a masters in addiction counseling from Hazelden Graduate School in Minnesota.

Fans and friends have flooded Reid's guestbook since Friday, posting their shock and memories. "I will always remember your smiling face. You were an inspiration to all," wrote one.

Sonya Buyting, a childhood friend of Reid's, said the incident has left her in shock. She described Reid as a "very loud surfer dude" who was an inspiration to everyone he met. She said after Reid became paralyzed, he had had taken up hand-cycling and competed at the national level.

She said that Reid was planning to return to Canada and build a 'dream house' in Jemseg, N.B. She said he was even trying to rehabilitate himself and walk again.

She said while Reid could be boisterous, descriptions of the incident by Texas police seem unbelievable.

"That's totally out of character for Andrew."

Others are also questioning how such a tragedy could have happened.

"I just can't believe two deputies couldn't handle one man in a wheelchair, to lead to having one dead man in a wheelchair," said Jonas Colter, a childhood friend in Fredericton.